Canari plush is one of the most quietly powerful systems in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. They sit in your Key Items pocket, never need to be equipped, and constantly feed you small statistical advantages as you move through Lumiose City and its Wild Zones.
They’re also one of the main reasons to care about Colorful Screws, the purple Poké Ball collectibles hidden all over the city’s scaffolding.
What Canari plush are and how they work
A Canari plush is a Key Item themed around Canari, the Lumiose City streamer you eventually face in the Z-A Royale. Each plush is a small doll with a charm hanging from its neck; that charm defines the effect you get.
- They live in the Key Items tab and are always active once obtained.
- You can benefit from all five colors at once; there’s no slot or loadout system.
- Each color comes in three levels (Lv. 1, Lv. 2, Lv. 3) with stronger effects at higher levels.
- Buying a higher level replaces the previous level’s effect, but the earlier plush still appears in your bag.
Your first plush is a Red Canari Plush (Lv. 1), handed over by Tarragon when you reach Rank Y in Z-A Royale. After that, you move into the Colorful Screw economy.
Where to get and spend Colorful Screws
Colorful Screws are a dedicated collectible tied to Canari plush. They look like purple Poké Balls with a dark glow and are scattered all over Lumiose City, especially around Racine Construction scaffolding.
- Many screws sit on rooftop paths and scaffold puzzles built by Racine Construction.
- Some screws are unreachable until you unlock the Roto-Glide movement ability during the “A Rogue Mega Beedrill” main mission, which lets you glide across gaps.
- You start seeing screws as soon as you get your first plush; you don’t need to unlock a separate quest.
Once you have a small stash, head to Racine Construction in the Vert District to trade them.
Racine Construction location and the Colorful Screw Exchange
All plush purchases and upgrades run through a single NPC:
- Go to Racine Construction in the Vert District, on the southern end of South Boulevard.
- Outside the building, a construction worker offers to exchange Colorful Screws for Canari plush.
- Entering the building also unlocks it as a fast travel spot, which is useful once you’re doing repeated trips for upgrades.
There’s no gacha or randomization here; you pick exactly which plush and level you’re buying.
Colorful Screw costs and total required
Every plush uses the same pricing scale:
| Plush level | Cost in Colorful Screws |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | 3 screws |
| Level 2 | 5 screws |
| Level 3 | 8 screws |
That pattern applies per plush. You must buy levels in order (Lv. 1 before Lv. 2, Lv. 2 before Lv. 3).
With five plush types, bringing every plush from nothing to Lv. 3 requires a substantial number of screws, so planning your priorities avoids slowing down early progression.
All Canari plush and their effects
Each color tracks to a specific gameplay axis: experience, money, Mega evolution resources, trainer survivability, or catch rate. The table below combines both the qualitative item text and the numeric bonuses recorded in-game.
| Plush | What it affects | Level 1 (3 screws) | Level 2 (5 screws) | Level 3 (8 screws) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Canari Plush | Experience from battles | +5% Exp. Points earned | +10% Exp. Points earned | +15% Exp. Points earned |
| Gold Canari Plush | Prize money and medal conversion | Prize money and prize medal conversion ×1.15 | Prize money and prize medal conversion ×1.299 | Prize money and prize medal conversion ×1.5 |
| Pink Canari Plush | Mega Shards from Mega Crystals | Small Mega Crystals: 2–4 shards Large Mega Crystals: 8–12 shards |
Small Mega Crystals: 3–5 shards Large Mega Crystals: 10–14 shards |
Small Mega Crystals: 5–7 shards Large Mega Crystals: 14–18 shards |
| Green Canari Plush | Trainer max HP (blacking out threshold) | Trainer HP set to 150 | Trainer HP set to 200 | Trainer HP set to 250 |
| Blue Canari Plush | Catch chance for wild Pokémon | Catch rate bonus +10% | Catch rate bonus +20% | Catch rate bonus +35% |
All effects are passive. There’s no toggle or downside: once a plush is in your inventory, its current-level bonus is always applied.
Special variants: Autographed and giant Canari plush
Beyond the five functional colors, there are two additional plush-related rewards:
- Autographed Plush: A special signed plush from Canari herself, obtained after beating her Rank F Z-A Royale promotion match. It’s used as a story item to thank Naveen for helping during Canari’s Quiz Whiz Contest.
- Giant Canari plush: A large decorative plush for your Hotel Z room, unlocked by collecting all Colorful Screws in Lumiose City and buying every Canari plush level at the Colorful Screw Exchange.
Neither of these affects gameplay stats; they function as collectibles and décor.
Which Canari plush to prioritize
Because Colorful Screws are limited and some require late-game movement to reach, the order you invest in matters. The five plushes lend themselves to different play styles, but the underlying numbers push a few clear priorities.
Best first pick: Blue Canari Plush (catch rate)
The Blue Canari Plush directly raises the catch rate for every Poké Ball you throw, up to a 35 percent bonus at Lv. 3. That touches almost everything you do in Legends: Z-A:
- Catching high-level or Alpha Pokémon in Wild Zones becomes less volatile.
- Building teams around rarer species is less dependent on long streaks of failed catches.
- Shiny encounters become safer; every extra bit of probability works in your favor.
Early in the game, that reliability often matters more than marginal gains in money or experience.
Next priority: Pink, Gold, then Red
Once your catch rate feels comfortable, three other plushes compete for your screws.
- Pink Canari Plush (Mega Shards) — Mega Shards are the resource you trade for Mega Stones later on, and the pink plush sharply improves shard yield, especially at Lv. 3, where even small Mega Crystals can drop up to seven shards. If you care about Mega Evolutions, this plush compresses a lot of late-game grinding.
- Gold Canari Plush (money and medals) — By boosting both direct prize money and Z-A Royale prize medal conversion up to 1.5×, the gold plush accelerates access to expensive items, TMs, and other infrastructure. It’s most impactful if you’re already battling a lot of trainers and pushing Royale ranks.
- Red Canari Plush (experience) — The red plush offers up to 15 percent extra Exp. Points per battle across your team. That’s modest but always-on, and it becomes handy while rotating in underleveled Pokémon or raising evolutions for Pokédex completion.
For most players, a sensible route is: secure Blue, then bring Pink to at least Lv. 2 if you plan on serious Mega play, followed by Gold and Red as your economy and leveling needs demand.
Last slot: Green Canari Plush (trainer HP)
The Green Canari Plush is the outlier. Instead of touching Pokémon stats, it manipulates your trainer’s health pool, lifting it in steps from the default to 150, then 200, then 250 HP.
That shows up in a few specific scenarios:
- Rogue Mega Evolution fights where you’re likely to take direct hits.
- Encounters with high-level Alpha Pokémon in the overworld.
- Any exploration route where blacking out would be especially punishing.
If you’re comfortable dodging attacks and rarely black out, the Green plush provides little day-to-day value compared with more shards, money, or catch rate. It makes sense to leave this one until late, or invest only if you’re repeatedly failing trainer-survival-heavy encounters.
How Canari plush fit into the overall Lumiose loop
Canari plush turns Lumiose City’s vertical exploration into a closed loop:
- You hunt Colorful Screws on rooftops and scaffolding.
- You exchange them at Racine Construction for plush upgrades.
- Those plush then subtly shift the odds in your favor across catching, money, shards, experience, and survival, which feeds back into more efficient exploration and combat.
The system never shouts for attention, but it quietly rewards players who engage with Lumiose as more than a hub. Treated as long-term infrastructure rather than short-term power, Canari plush becomes one of the most efficient uses of time in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
